REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesian national team goalkeeper Maarten Paes improved his Indonesian speaking skills by studying books and interacting with the squad. “I studied with Sandy Walsh (Indonesia national defender) and a few other players. I also have a book for it,” said Paes, Sunday (8/9/2024).

The goalkeeper for FC Dallas in Major League Soccer (MLS) continues, regularly learning Indonesian to facilitate communication and adaptation to the national team. Paes also aims to be fluent in Indonesian by October 2024.

“Maybe next month I can be interviewed with Indonesian,” said the 26-year-old footballer.

While related to Sandy Walsh, Maarten Paes called his partner the pitfall of every new player in the team, especially naturalized players who have careers abroad. Just like Paes, Sandy is also a naturalised player who previously held a Dutch passport.

“Sandy's a nice guy and funny too. He was very pleasant and warm,” he said.

Maarten Pes gained WNI status at the end of April 2024. However, he must pass FIFA's arbitration tribunal in order to strengthen the Indonesian national team.

Arbitration was also involved because Paes allegedly played for the Dutch age-group team when he was 22 years old.

Paes will be able to play for the Indonesian national team in early September 2024 when the “Garuda” squad takes on hosts Saudi Arabia in Group C of the third round of World Cup qualifying with a 1-1 draw in Jeddah on Thursday (5/9/2024) local time. However, before entering the field at the match against Saudi Arabia, Paes appeared to be fluent in singing the national anthem of Great Indonesia.

Next, Indonesia will face Australia in the advanced Group C match of the third round of the 2026 Asian World Cup qualification at Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Jakarta, on Tuesday (10/9/2024), starting at 19:00pm.

That match will be the second match for both teams in those qualifiers. In the first match, Indonesia drew hosts Saudi Arabia 1-1 and Australia beat visiting Bahrain 0—1.

That one point leaves Indonesia fourth in the standings while Group C of the third round of 2026 World Cup qualifiers Asian zone below first-ranked Japan (six points), second Bahrain (six points) and third Saudi Arabia (one point). In fifth and sixth place are Australia and China with zero points.

Saudi Arabia was above Indonesia because in the two teams' matches, Saudi Arabia received only two yellow cards while Indonesia got three yellow cards.

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